Developing Climate Stewards

Inspiring community solutions for our changing climate

Oakland Zoo is proud to be the only zoo partnering with the UC Naturalist Program and the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources on this pioneering course of study. The Climate Stewardship Certificate will expand climate literacy among the general population and increase access to current, locally relevant climate science.

Targeted at people interested in working on climate issues, the certificate can be offered by organizations teaching formal or informal science. The Zoos’ first group of trainees completed this eight-week program in March of 2022. Since then, we have seen how it elevates climate stewardship and encourages community solutions to the causes and problems of a changing climate.

More about this innovative certificate:

• Oakland Zoo is the only zoo offering this certificate. Our first session reached its capacity of 22 shortly after registration opened.

• It is offered in junior colleges, nature centers, and science museums focused on improving public understanding of climate science.

• This eight-week fee-based course meets weekly. To assure the widest accessibility, the Zoo charges the lowest fee of any other organization now offering the certificate, and scholarships are available.

As this initiative rolls out across the state and the number of graduates increases, it will result in vertically integrated support — local to statewide — for action to mitigate the devastation of climate change happening now.